Forever
by The Wrath of Procrastination
Summary: ONESHOT. A Rin x Sesshoumaru centered-fic. On nights where she is assaulted by her deepest, darkest fears, he comes and saves her from her pain.


**Forever**  
a one shot. Rin x Sesshoumaru. I do not own anything. Don't like it? Don't read it.

Rin had lost count on how many times she wished she was a demon.

It starts out with optimism. She dances around, with freshly picked flowers in her arms, singing and twirling. She says it with such hope. Rin would be with her Lord for as long as time itself. Nothing in the world would stop her from being by his side. Rin would live with him till the end.

Jaken crushes her spirit with four simple words against a barrage of a million promises and aspirations.

"You can't! You're human!"

Rin sleeps with her dreams of happiness with her Lord replaced by nightmares of Sesshoumaru's back turned to her. She would get older and older until her teeth fell out and her hair, once as black as ebony, turned the same shade of white as the clouds. Her skin would wrinkle and her body would slump. She would no longer have the energy to run with her Lord. She wouldn't have the strength to ride Ah Un until she felt she could touch the sunset. She wouldn't have enough words to say to Jaken when he would insult her about her weaknesses. She'd be left behind and Sesshoumaru would never come back to get her. Even when she's awake, the nightmares continue. It's only much worse when her eyes are open because she knows them to be true. Reality hits her on days where she wishes she could be a demon. To live forever beside him. To live forever knowing he would never leave her behind. To be with him, always.

On nights where she was hit with Jaken's words, she would shiver as if the coldest gales enveloped her entire body. She would sweat as if the hottest sun seared her flesh and attacked her with merciless heat. She would cry as if everything she held dear disappeared with a blink of her eyes. In a way, it kind of did. In her nightmares, she wilted like a flower. She would stand no chance against the test of time. She was human and they were not.

Rin had lost count on how many times she was awakened by a gentle nudge in the shoulder, with two golden orbs staring down at her as if he was in pain like she was.

"L-Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Her voice was husky from sleep, but he shushes her before she can continue. Silently and fluidly, he would scoop her up in one arm and allow her form to rest on his fluffy boa. She would stare up at his face, smooth and stoic. Their eyes would meet and as silently as he bid her to lay with him, it would be the same silence that asks her to tell him what was wrong. On cue, she would tell him her fears. Her crushed hopes. Her dreams that would never come true.

"I just want to be with you forever, Lord Sesshoumaru!"

Rin cries. Tears as endless as a waterfall come streaming down. She dares not to look up at his face, in his gaze. She knew how much her Lord hated displays of weakness. Would he reprimand her for being so unnecessarily dramatic? What would he do after hearing her confession of affections for him? Will he think differently of her? She knew the consequences for pouring her heart out to her Lord, but Rin, only seven years mature, cannot handle the pressure of knowing the hard truth.

And Sesshoumaru muses on how cruel the fates can be, even to a child.

His hand reaches up to her chin. He prods her, gently, to look at him. Rin follows his movements, but her eyes refuse to look at his directly. She was afraid.

"Rin."

At the sound of his command, she looks at him with no more hesitation. The whites of her eyes were red, puffy and tired. He could smell the scent of the flowers she was picking earlier in the afternoon in her hair. She was sniveling, her nose as red as a tomato. In any other situation, Sesshoumaru would have found some humor in her disheveled appearance. Not tonight, though. Tonight, he would set the record. Not only did her want his Rin to find peace in her slumber, but he also intended to rest on his own pace and her crying helped him like Naraku helped the world.

"Dry your tears."

Rin sniffed up the coming onslaught of her emotions and nodded. She had expected something harsher coming from him, or to ignore her crying all together, but at least she wasn't scolded. In some part of her mind, she had hoped he would comfort her, but that was asking too much.

"You will sleep with me tonight."

She did little to hide her surprise. Her eyes widened as much as it could, and her mouth opened slightly at his order. He always slept alone. Nevertheless, Rin nodded slowly and snuggled into his chest, relishing the warmth his body gave off. It seeped into her skin, giving room for the drowsy feeling she felt earlier in the night to return. Her eyes started to flutter, and it didn't take long before Rin's eyes closed completely.

Sesshoumaru watched her sleep for the rest of the night. He was not a man of words. He couldn't comfort her as others in his situation would have. He knew that what she said is relatively true; she did not have the longevity demons had. There will come a day when Sesshoumaru would have no choice but to leave Rin at some human village and return only when everything he set forth to do was complete. Even for him, it would be a long and enduring task. Something that Rin may not be able to handle. He inwardly scoffed at the idea of Rin turning into a demon. Her wish was sweet, to some extent, but foolish. The very idea of relinquishing one's entire being for another caught Sesshoumaru off guard. As young as his charge may be, she was brave. He admired her spirit, her strength at the very mention of becoming the object of everyone's hatred just to be by his side.

He didn't know what came over him that night.

Carefully, he lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "I do not wish for you to be anything else other than Rin." He pulled away slowly and watched her stir in her sleep. A small smile appeared on her lips, and that was enough for Sesshoumaru. He would not lie to her and tell her false promises; that they would live a fairy tale life and nothing would keep them apart. The best he could do was reaffirm her importance to him; as Rin. The best he could do to calm the girl was not by encouraging the idea of living forever, but by allowing her to feel for herself what it was like to be truly by his side. He would stay with her until dawn came, and he would chase away her incessant fears and nightmares with one look. His Rin would sleep in peace.

As the clouds dispersed and the light of the morning shifted in the skies, Sesshoumaru's eyes opened and stared down at Rin's sleeping form. He wondered how she could change him so much. How could someone like her open his darkened depths and bring forth light? How could one little girl go against everything he stood for in the past without bringing him any animosity towards the idea?

His hand found its way on top of her head. He stroked her hair twice and left his hand where it was until she was awake. If his presence would be enough to halt her tears, than there was no need for words.

Forever is relative. As long as he was with her, then Rin would experience forever.

And Sesshoumaru had no plans on genuinely leaving her behind. _Ever._

**FIN.**


End file.
